The present invention relates generally to handling of hosiery during the manufacturing process, and more particularly, to an apparatus for straightening and stacking individual hose after they are turned and separated from the string.
During the manufacture of hosiery, particularly socks, it is common practice to knit the hosiery in a continuous, elongated tube divided by longitudinally-spaced, knitted rings of break-away thread. The first in-line hose is everted, or turned inside-out, and then broken away from the string by pulling. The hose is thus ready for closing the toe by the seamstress.
An apparatus for expediting the everting and separating steps is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,887,120 and copending application Ser. No. 527,441, filed Nov. 26, 1974, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,913 both assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In both U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,887,120 and 3,949,913, with a hollow tubular form located in a first working position, the hosiery string is loaded onto the form. An egress of air out the open end of the form assists in this operation by opening the string and reducing frictional resistance. The form is then pivoted to a second working position, wherein the first in-line hose on the string is everted into the open end of the form. An ingress of air at the open end of the form assists in that operation by drawing in the hose. Finally, the form is pivoted to a third working position to initiate a separating and stacking cycle of operation. A pair of fingers carried on a reciprocating arm come together and grasps the double-over end portion of the hose, and snaps it from the string at the ring of break-away threads. The arm then advances the hose along a predetermined path to a stacking region. Our U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,913 includes an improvement feature No., wherein the hosiery form is U-shaped to conserve floor space.
In the seaming operation that follows stacking, the operator ties a stack of about 24 hose, and transfers the stack to another station for sewing the toe. The seaming operation requires that the individual hose be stacked as evenly as possible. Thus, the operator must even up the individual hose before the stack is tied. Because the additional step of "evening up" must be performed, uneveness in the stack that results using prior apparatus substantially slows down the manufacturing operation.